


Brothers and all, in everything but blood

by potts89



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Grief/Mourning, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, MIT bros, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29283789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potts89/pseuds/potts89
Summary: Rhodes honestly didn’t know how long he had been sitting there in Tony’s old workshop, drinking Tony’s favorite scotch, surrounded by Tony’s bots while they made whirring noises in the background.His heart was heavy and pounding, and Rhodes felt the need to shrug off the level-headedness and the pragmatism and the stoicism he had picked up from all his years with the military, in favor of mourning his best friend whose presence, up to that point, still felt so larger than life to him.Rhodey deals with losing Tony on his own, but then he and Morgan accidentally discover something, or someone, so familiar to both of them.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Kudos: 24





	Brothers and all, in everything but blood

**Author's Note:**

> But... what if Armor Wars opens this way?

Rhodes honestly didn’t know how long he had been sitting there in Tony’s old workshop, drinking Tony’s favorite scotch, surrounded by Tony’s bots — DUM-E, U, and Butterfingers — while they made whirring noises in the background. He was just grateful that Pepper had allowed him to seek refuge in his best friend’s sanctuary, but when he finally had the chance to really think about it, it occurred to him that maybe she had let him be because she didn’t want to, couldn’t, deal with him just yet.

It had been a very difficult afternoon, and despite the tough exterior that Pepper Potts-Stark had perfected through the years, he knew that the last thing she needed was for someone to see her finally crumbling to pieces just hours after the funeral service they had for Tony. Rhodes fully understood where she was coming from — it was one thing to feel and deal with such a huge loss, but it’s another thing to be pitied for it, to be consoled for it — after all, the condolences and the sorry-for-your-loss notes only made Tony’s absence even more real.

So yeah, he was thankful that Pepper seemed to be avoiding him because he could tell that he was about to have a break down as well and he really didn’t want to be that one more person that Pepper would need to console, to worry about. She was having a difficult time with Morgan already, after all. Tony’s daughter had refused to eat anything since the service ended, completely ignoring the cheeseburgers she had asked Happy for earlier and demanding that she would only be eating an omelette that his father had prepared for her. As he made his way to the workshop, he could hear Morgan screaming and crying and for the very first time ever, Pepper seemed to be at a loss on what to do. The sight of Tony’s ~~wife~~ widow in such a very unfamiliar territory felt too wrong for him because Pepper always knew how to proceed with things, and Tony... Tony should be here by now teasing Pepper about how Morgan was really just as stubborn as her father had been.

He quietly made his way to the workshop, choosing to deal with his loss, with his grief, with his anger, all on his own. His heart was heavy and pounding, and Rhodes felt the need to shrug off the level-headedness and the pragmatism and the stoicism he had picked up from all his years with the military, in favor of mourning his best friend whose presence, up to that point, still felt so larger than life to him. He just couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that Tony was really gone, it was difficult to think of his best friend in the past tense. The guy still felt so much alive to him and Rhodes couldn’t just let go because he had known Tony the longest after all, for almost forty years, and they had been through a lot, brothers and all in everything but blood.

So he sat there, alternating between longing and grief and fury and defeat. By the time he finished two or three glasses, he began confronting Tony out loud — how Tony cheated because Rhodes was older and how after Afghanistan, Rhodes had always assumed that the once fourteen year-old boy he met in MIT was going to outlive him, in spite of and despite the other’s many, many (mis)adventures — even if he knew that Tony would never hear him anyway, anymore.

But he went on and on, ranting how Tony should’ve known that Pepper would never, ever move on...

“You’re crazy to even think that Pepper will ever recover from this. Seriously, man, you should’ve been more afraid of her than whoever’s the current villain of the month.”

... Or how Tony seemingly never learned from the experience of growing up without one’s father around...

“You really are going to let Morgan go through what you went through when Howard bailed on you? She does have Pepper, but come on, man!”

... Or how Tony so irresponsibly left Peter under his and Happy’s watch...

“How, how dare you? Really, it’s not enough that I already looked after you back in MIT? You’re really gonna leave me in charge of an awkward, fifteen, sixteen year-old, PG version of you, complete with the puppy eyes and all? Tones, I’ve already been there, done that!”

But above all, how Tony never hesitated, not even for one second, on taking that gauntlet and doing that snap…

“You have a wife and a kid, didn't you realize that you actually have something to lose... this time?”

Rhodes felt frustrated, much of it was brought about by the fact that he had loved that self-sacrificing idiot like a brother… and yet, said brother never even hesitated in that very crucial moment, when the world, the universe, needed a hero.

He hated Tony… for finally growing up and realizing what he really needed to do with his life, what needed to be done, what sacrifice needed to be made… Rhodes knew he was being selfish, but that’s his brother, dammit, and he’s _allowed_ to be selfish if only when he was alone.

He was really quite conflicted if he should be angry or proud. In the end, anger won, at least for now.

“Fuck you, Tones! _This_ , this is the moment that you chose to do the right thing?”

He threw the tumbler across the room and it hit one of Tony’s old monitors and Rhodes was just about ready to walk out when…

“I’ve always known you love me, but I didn’t realize you love me _this_ much, Sour Patch.”

“Shit, Tones.”

Rhodes would recognize that voice anywhere, anytime. He glanced at one of the cameras and he couldn’t decide if he was more furious or more relieved at the moment, scared could even be a possibility, too. A super genius Tony, after all, was already formidable, but an all-knowing, all-seeing AI Tony?

“Missed me, Honeybear?”

“Shit, man.”

“Shit, man.”

Rhodes then turned to look at the door separating the workshop from the rest of the garage only to find Morgan sitting there, eyes all red and swollen from crying back at the kitchen but already with a smirk so identical to Tony’s forming on her chubby, mischievous face.

“Jesus, Platypus, now you’re just teaching my daughter how to swear.”

Rhodes shook his head as he put his hands on his hips, glancing at the ceiling as Morgan giggled at the sound of her father’s voice. He just knew it, these two Starks would one day really be the death of him.

*******

**Author's Note:**

> I was just waiting for my coffee and this was supposed to be just a random twitter rant but somebody obviously got carried away... original Tumblr post right [here](https://potts89.tumblr.com/post/642522672672260096/but-what-if-armor-wars-opens-with-rhodey-sitting).


End file.
